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But attempts by evangelicals to emphasise their profound suspicions about Catholic teaching on the Virgin Mary were also averted, and speakers criticised "dark talk" of papal plots and "old war cries" about popery.

The Gift of Authority report was published several years ago by the Third Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic).

It argued that Anglicans should accept the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome as long as the Pope devolved much of his power to his bishops and local churches.

More controversially, the report also suggests that a universal primate could, in certain circumstances, make infallible pronouncements on matters of teaching.

However, many will view the Synod debate as largely academic as unity talks have been derailed by the Anglican decision to ordain women and the row over homosexuality.

Dr Williams told the Synod that papal infallibility raised grave misgivings, but these could dissolve if it were seen as a trustworthy way of discerning and settling disputes rather than one man's power to assert doctrine.